Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘BALE IS NOT THE ANSWER’
SIGNING a global star could help the new Southampton owners get off to a flying start as they bid to turn the South Coast club into a globally recognised brand.
But don’t bank on one Gareth Bale turning the Saints into the next Manchester City.
Reports in Spain have linked Wales star Bale with a return to the club where he began his career.
Whether that comes to pass remains to be seen.
But Southampton’s new owners – the Sport Republic consortium headed by Serbian billionaire Dragan Solak – have made it clear that they would like the Saints to be just the first of a fleet of clubs they’ll run.
It’s a similar model to the one pioneered by Manchester City and Red Bull. But Tim Crow, a leading figure in commercial sports’ sponsorship, believes the Saints have their work cut out to follow City.
Crow warned: “City weren’t a huge club – but their big qualification was that they had Manchester in the title and were United’s rivals.
“From there the owners have shown what can be done.
“Red Bull is slightly different because it’s a global brand and a different proposition.
“But building a stable of clubs, as the City Football Group have done takes a lot of money and resources.
“What City did first, which is most important, was build an incredibly strong HQ team.
“Marquee signings are part of building a brand – but the most important thing is still results.
“Staying in the Premier League is critical, as Newcastle are finding out.”
The Saints go into 2022 in good spirits. But with a spending splurge unlikely, Bale or no Bale, most Southampton fans would now settle for the club finally shedding its habit of developing fine players only to sell them on for the profit.
Virgil van Dijk, Luke Shaw, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Jannik Vestergaard and Sadio Mane all left St Mary’s that way in recent seasons. Fans will hope that now the club is quids in, this cashing in will stop.